A Waterloo Region Record blog on the Kitchener Rangers

July 03, 2014

Rangers get their man

The latest addition to the Rangers' roster took a tour of the Aud yesterday for the first time.

A layover in Toronto - while on his way home to Sweden - meant centre Gustaf Franzen had time to whip over to Kitchener to meet his new club.

The Rangers selected the Swede with the fourth pick in Wednesday's CHL import draft. The team had to sweat three picks but got Franzen, a player they have coveted for a couple of years.

Of note, Russian Vladislav Kamenev was also on the team's radar but Franzen was clearly the first choice.

On first impressions, he seems like a bright and confident teenager. On the ice, I'm told he is smart, skilled and owns a solid two-way game.

He looks up to former Ranger Gabriel Landeskog and even picked the Colorado Avalanche captain's brain about Kitchener leading up to the draft.

The Rangers need some offensive punch up front and should get that out of Franzen. He's eligible for next year's NHL draft and I'd peg him as the third line centre to start the year, though he can play wing. In the past, the team has tended to ease their imports into action (think back to Faksa), at least to start the season. Where he ends up is up to him.

A line of Franzen, Mason Kohn and Darby Llewellyn sounds good behind Brandon Robinson-Curtis Meighan-Justin Bailey and Brent Pedersen-Ryan MacInnis-Nick Magyar, but that's just me surmising. Or maybe you flip Robinson and Meighan for Franzen and Llewellyn.

Meanwhile, lots of non-drafted Rangers are off to NHL development camps. Llewellyn, Robinson and blueliner Logan Schmidt are off to the Detroit Red Wings gathering.

And, while not confirmed, it sounds like Frank Hora will get an invite to the Chicago Blackhawks camp while Dmitrii Sergeev may join the St. Louis Blues faction.

Comments

The latest addition to the Rangers' roster took a tour of the Aud yesterday for the first time.

A layover in Toronto - while on his way home to Sweden - meant centre Gustaf Franzen had time to whip over to Kitchener to meet his new club.

The Rangers selected the Swede with the fourth pick in Wednesday's CHL import draft. The team had to sweat three picks but got Franzen, a player they have coveted for a couple of years.

Of note, Russian Vladislav Kamenev was also on the team's radar but Franzen was clearly the first choice.

On first impressions, he seems like a bright and confident teenager. On the ice, I'm told he is smart, skilled and owns a solid two-way game.

He looks up to former Ranger Gabriel Landeskog and even picked the Colorado Avalanche captain's brain about Kitchener leading up to the draft.

The Rangers need some offensive punch up front and should get that out of Franzen. He's eligible for next year's NHL draft and I'd peg him as the third line centre to start the year, though he can play wing. In the past, the team has tended to ease their imports into action (think back to Faksa), at least to start the season. Where he ends up is up to him.

A line of Franzen, Mason Kohn and Darby Llewellyn sounds good behind Brandon Robinson-Curtis Meighan-Justin Bailey and Brent Pedersen-Ryan MacInnis-Nick Magyar, but that's just me surmising. Or maybe you flip Robinson and Meighan for Franzen and Llewellyn.

Meanwhile, lots of non-drafted Rangers are off to NHL development camps. Llewellyn, Robinson and blueliner Logan Schmidt are off to the Detroit Red Wings gathering.

And, while not confirmed, it sounds like Frank Hora will get an invite to the Chicago Blackhawks camp while Dmitrii Sergeev may join the St. Louis Blues faction.